Stories

Gelderland Remembers

Thousands of deaths, huge numbers of evacuees, unimaginable damage to homes and other buildings—all the result of the final year of the Second World War in Gelderland. From 17 September 1944 to May 1945, this province was at the frontline in the Netherlands. Cities and villages were under fire; Arnhem, the Veluwezoom and the surroundings of Groesbeek were evacuated and flooded. All regions of Gelderland were affected by the war in that period.

On 17 September 1944, Gelderland and Noord-Brabant were the battlegrounds during Operation Market Garden. Tens of thousands of paratroopers landed near Arnhem, Groesbeek, Veghel and Eindhoven. A ground army of tens of thousands more soldiers and heavy equipment advanced north from the Belgian border. The Allies intended to conquer the bridges over the great rivers and advance into the Ruhr area—the heart of Germany—via Gelderland. The operation was only partially successful, Arnhem turned out to be a bridge too far, and the battle there was lost. The south of the Netherlands was liberated, the north and the middle remained occupied, and the big cities in the west were facing a terrible famine. Until the liberation in April and May, Gelderland and, more specifically, the region of the great rivers formed the frontline of the war.

Gelderland Remembers - 75 Years of Freedom

5 stories

Operation Market Garden

A bridge too far

The year is1944, and the war is raging at full force. During Operation Market Garden, tens of thousands of Allied paratroopers land in occupied territory and a ground army advances from the Belgian border. The…

Frontline period

Flooding, shelling and evacuations

After the failure of Operation Market Garden in September 1944, the area between the Waal and the Rhine forms the new frontline. The battles are fierce with heavy shelling from both sides. The civilian population…

Persecution of the Jews

Threat, terror, exclusion, persecution and deportation

At the end of 1942, Jewish Gelderlanders are arrested and transported by train to Westerbork. Many of them end up at Auschwitz where they are gassed. Jewish patients from Het Apeldoornsche Bosch psychiatric facility undergo…

Liberation

Canadians liberate Gelderland

At the end of March 1945, Allied units enter Dutch territory in the Achterhoek. After heavy fighting, the path to liberate the rest of the Netherlands is open. On 5 May 1945, German General Blaskowitz…

Experience ‘Gelderland Remembers’ at the following events

7 Jun

Historisch Cafe van Lin 1944

Overasselt

11 Jun

Verwolde in oorlogstijd

Actief

Lochem

10 Jan - 13 Jun

Expositie ’75 jaar bevrijding van Nijkerk’ in Museum Nijkerk

The exhibition 'remembering 75 years of liberation in Nijkerk' shows films, photograhs and stories of eyewitnesses of the failure of the battle of Arnhem (with evacuees and passers-by in search of food), of the liberation by Canadian allied forces and of the persecution of the local Jews.

Nijkerk

27 Jun

Aaltense en Duitse zangkoren zingen samen vrede

Aalten

28 Jun

Battlefield Fietstour ‘De bevrijding van Nijmegen’

Bicycle tour (on your own bike) of 10 km over the battlefields of WW2 around the bridges in Nijmegen accompanied by two guides.

Nijmegen

28 Jun

Battlefield Fietstour ‘De bevrijding van Nijmegen’

Bicycle tour (on your own bike) of 10 km over the battlefields of WW2 around the bridges in Nijmegen accompanied by two guides (Dutch spoken).

Nijmegen

26 - 28 Jun

FREYHEYT de rockopera

FREYHEYT the rockopera is a multimedia theatre show about young people in the resistance. It places the true stories in actual setting of today. If you lose your freedom, what would you do? The show is in Dutch.

Doetinchem

5 Jul

Fieldtrips van Grateful Generation Tours

The Freedom Museum in cooperation with Grateful Generation tours will organize exciting fieldtrips along the battlefields of Operation Market Garden in an authentic Willys MB from WW2 (2 to 3 persons).

Groesbeek

3 Jan - 5 Jul

Verhalenboom

Nijkerk

7 Jul

Anne Frank middag

Groesbeek

12 Jul

Battlefield Fietstour ‘Fietsen zonder parachute’

Groesbeek

14 Jul

Opa’s en oma’s vertellen over de oorlog

Groesbeek

15 Jul

Cineac voor kinderen

Groesbeek

16 Jul

Anne Frank middag

Groesbeek

28 Jul

Workshop ‘Het leven van de parachutist in WO2’

Groesbeek

29 Jul

Spionagetraining

Groesbeek

29 Jul

Spionagetraining

Groesbeek

29 Jan - 31 Jul

Uitgave oorlogsdagboek 1944 – 1945 Frans Kragt Hzn.

Nijkerk

About Gelderland Remembers

Gelderland was at the frontline of the war from 17 September 1944 to 5 May 1945. In 2019 and 2020 these events will have been 75 years ago. Throughout Gelderland, projects are underway to commemorate the events of that time and to celebrate the liberation and 75 years of freedom.